Different from You: Home within an Inn
by Traitor of All Traitors
Summary: Another Different from You story that has Shinji dealing with the challenges of being a teenage father to a child of his own in a world where he has to be what his own father never could be. After escaping from Tokyo-3 with his only friend and fellow teen parent Rumiko, Shinji and company find themselves at a mysterious inn with a closely-guarded secret that's without strings.


Creation began on 09-26-18

Creation ended on 10-03-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Different from You: Home within an Inn

A/N: I'll be honest, I thought of _Retro Puppet Master_ , skimmed through some of it on YouTube, went to the _Puppet Master Wiki_ , and this idea came to mind. Expect some original characters from the first _Different from You_ and _Renewal_.

Kicking his father in the balls wasn't going to get him in his good graces, but Shinji Ikari, a single father and rape victim of five years with a four-year-old daughter of his own, Shado, wasn't looking for his father's acceptance. Not after that fiasco he was forced into shortly after his arrival with his childhood friend, Rumiko, and her bastard son, Toya, into Tokyo-3. If it wasn't being made to pilot some sort of giant robot against a creature that was out to destroy mankind because his old man lied and claimed there was nobody else that could or was willing AND able to, it was the fact that his old man threatened his child and the child of his childhood friend with being placed in the foster care system somewhere out of their reach because he viewed them as an annoying hindrance. So, after he dealt with this…Angel, he, Rumiko and their children up and left NERV HQ and Tokyo-3, never to return there or their previous homes because there was no way they could go back there, either.

Shinji, who had been kidnapped by two men and a woman in the hopes of a ransom, had been raped by the woman on his third day with them, two hours before the police found him with the help of Rumiko (after it became common knowledge that his aunt and uncle weren't as concerned about his whereabouts or safety as they should've been), had managed to recover from the ordeal with the help of his friend, who had been going through a recovery period of her own after confiding in him that her son had been fathered by either her elder brother or their father (she was unsure of which one and didn't want to know). When he discovered that his rapist had died in prison, but not before having his daughter, he became attached to the girl almost instantly, something his guardians detested because they found it unusual that he had been able to have a child of his own because of his prepubescence…and their personal disgust towards him just because of his own parents. But since nobody else wanted the girl and her chances of getting into a good home were unlikely, not to mention that Shinji, regardless of his age, had parental rights over Shado and wouldn't give her up, the Ikari family had to open their home to the bastard girl, but they made it no hint that they hated her…simply because she was his daughter.

"I feel like we've been running forever, Shinji," Rumiko told him, feeling the strain of overworked muscles in her legs. "I think I exhausted muscles I didn't even know I had."

"You two are tired," Shado told her father, reminding the teen parents that they were carrying their children on their backs because they couldn't keep up with their legs. "Stop and rest."

"But Shado, there's nowhere to stop and rest," went Toya.

Lost and confused to the abyss of time and space, the four were just unsure of where they were and how long they've been getting lost. To Shinji, it felt like an eternity and to Rumiko, it felt like a week, but to their children, it felt like a day because it was dark out. It was cold, a little breezy, and they were sleepy and hungry.

"Are you sure they won't be looking for us?" Rumiko asked Shinji.

"I don't know, anymore," he answered. "I just wanted to get away from that man before he could lay a finger on Shado."

"Well, we really did it, Shinji. We said we'd run away from the world of our parents and guardians…and we did with nothing but our kids and our clothes."

"If there is a god, he hates me only because I wouldn't give up Shado, even if her chances of getting into a good home were slim."

"And she only hates me because I don't want to know who Toya's father is."

Shado and Toya only knew their parents were speaking this way because they didn't have a plan. They had only pocket change, no change of clothes, and no chance of aid from anyone that didn't know of them. Without a doubt, anyone that knew of Shinji's father would know only about him and his daughter, and anyone that knows of Rumiko's family would know of what the father and brother did to her…and then what the mother did.

"Hey," went Toya, pointing to the right of them, "when did that building get there?"

Shinji and Rumiko looked to where he pointed and saw a large building that didn't have any sense of Asian architecture. It seemed more akin to…Egyptian or some other foreign culture.

"Shinji, I…I didn't even see that building there," Rumiko confessed. "Did you?"

"No," he answered her. "Maybe it's an act of the kami or a miracle."

They walked over to the assumed entrance of the building and passed a sign that read, _"Welcome to the Bodega Bay Inn, where every moment is filled with mystery"_.

"It's called the Bodega Bay Inn? That sounds American," Toya stated.

"But it sounds nice," Shado admitted.

They entered the building and stepped into the lobby.

"Hello?" Shinji called out. "Is anyone here?"

An elderly man stepped out from behind a corner, carrying a book, and looked at the four with a warm smile.

"It's been too long since anyone ever came here," he greeted them. "Are you four lost?"

"We're not lost, per se, sir," Rumiko told the man. "We're just…just… I guess we are lost."

"We had to get out of Tokyo-3 after a negative altercation with my father, sir," Shinji explained. "He threatened to get rid our children because he viewed them as a distraction. We don't have homes to go back there because we have people we can no longer stand to be around, that hate us for our faults, our slights, real and imagined."

"You left Tokyo-3? That's a long way from here. It's over in the Kanto Region. You're on Oshima Island."

"Oshima Island?" Shinji and Rumiko gasped, realizing that they had, somehow, despite the severe impossibility of it, and in what had to be a day, walked over a vast distance and across a large body of water to an island that had managed to recover from Second Impact with an unusual hotel building.

"Maybe fate brought you four here," the man suggested. "It would be an honor if you stayed the night here at this old inn."

"But sir, we don't even have any money to pay you for a night here," Rumiko tried to decline peacefully. "All we have is a few yen."

"Call it a favor for an old man that lives alone with a few friends to keep him company. Ever since this place was rebuilt in a new location, people seldom come to here, let alone Oshima Island. Besides, there's no other place open around here for miles around…and your children must have not eaten all day."

The teen parents looked at their children and knew the elder was right. They had been walking for so long that none of them had eaten.

"Thank you, sir," Shinji praised him.

"Andre Toulon."

"Andre Toulon? Like the man that was said to be the greatest showman in the Twentieth Century?" Rumiko asked him. "I think he was referred to as… Oh, yeah! They called him the Puppet Master!"

The elder bowed his head to them.

"It's been a long time since anyone called me that," he stated.

"You're actually him? But then, you have to be at least… I mean, it's such an honor to meet you. Oh, Kami, Shinji, we're talking to the Puppet Master."

-x-

"…There's been no signs of the two teens or their children," went Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki to Gendo Ikari in the latter's office, updating him on the lack of progress in finding Shinji and Shado Ikari and Rumiko and Toya Gaidoku.

"It is imperative that they're found as soon as possible," Gendo demanded, angry that the boy left without even considering the facts that it was necessary for him to continue piloting the Eva, that he assaulted him for declaring that he would separate him and his friend from their bastard children (even after discovering that the single teen mother was born on the day before Second Impact and was a year older than the Third Child), and how the boy was able to develop a kinship with a girl that he didn't want him being anywhere near.

In truth, he didn't want the boy being close with anyone because it would hinder his ability to manipulate him for his own plans. The sooner he was found and brought back to NERV HQ to pilot the Eva again, the better his agenda would progress.

"Ikari, you know you were in the wrong before they left," Fuyutsuki told him. "You threatened to have his daughter and the son of his friend taken from them. They had every right to react the way they did. If nobody's heard or seen them since yesterday, then it's likely they've gone off the grid to avoid having their children taken away. And quite frankly, I don't believe he'll pilot the Eva again, even if you order him to."

But Gendo didn't believe he was in the wrong. In his mind, it was important that the Third Child had no attachments and wasn't obligated to anyone. This way, he could implement his plan to achieve his grand design. And if other forces were at work to hinder him, he would take action to remove them. Everything he did hinged on his son being around to pilot the Eva.

-x-

Shinji didn't know anything about Andre Toulon, but Rumiko seemed versed in the history of this legendary puppeteer. So much so that Mr. Toulon, the very owner of this faithful recreation of the original Bodega Bay Inn, let them stay the whole week, free of charge. If anything, they could probably work at the inn, doing odd jobs if it meant not having to be forced to return to their previous homes and the people that hated them.

"I didn't know he was that old," he told Rumiko as they were walking down a hall on the third floor. "I mean, Mr. Toulon should be in a wheelchair or using a cane, but he looks more like he's in his sixties."

"He's a supercentenarian, Shinji," she explained. "He's over one-hundred-twenty years old, probably the oldest person on the planet. But it's not his advanced age that excites me to see him. It's the fact that he's the greatest puppeteer of all time. He deserves his designation as the Puppet Master. I read a book about him and his unique puppets and got hooked instantly."

"What was…is…so unique about his puppets, please?"

"He could make them move on their own, without any strings attached. That's one of the things about him that made him a success."

"So, the puppets were like remote-controlled, then?"

"No, no, they just moved on their own. They were made completely out of wood and later newer materials like the kind you make dolls and action figures out of. And it was the way they looked whenever they moved that was also incredible; they moved like regular people could."

"You mean, like they were…alive?"

"Yes."

"Mommy admires good people," said Toya to Shinji as Rumiko carried him to their hotel room.

"Kinda like how Daddy says that the three of us are the only good people he's ever known," added Shado as her father carried her to their hotel room.

"That's because you three are the only good people I've ever known," Shinji told her.

"Well, since Mr. Toulon is letting us stay here for a week for free, we should use that time to figure out what we're going to do about our future," Rumiko told Shinji as they stopped in front of their rooms; Andre had gave them adjoining rooms so they'd be able to go talk to each other if necessary or just for the sake of seeing one another.

"Yeah," Shinji agreed, "and since nobody knows we're here, we should be able to figure out something. Good night, Rumiko and Toya."

"Good night, Shinji and Shado."

"Good night," Shado and Toya expressed before they were led by their parents into their rooms.

-x-

Andre sat at a table in the dining room and sighed as he felt the weight of his age catch up to him.

"I know you're there, my friends," he sighed, and in front of him, his friends of the past and present sat in front of him in each of the chairs. "Children with children, they only want to be with their children and do right by them. I believe that fate brought them here. Maybe they can be the ones to carry on the mantle…if they choose to."

In front of Andre, a small, doll-like woman with pale skin and long, dark hair made a small, moaning sound as it raised its left hand up to him.

Beside her was a pale-faced, gaunt figure in a black trench coat with a blade for a right hand and a hook for a left hand.

"It's been over ten years since we defeated Sutekh and his minions for good," Andre expressed. "Now, all I do is guard the secret of eternal life from those that would misuse it for wrongful purposes…and protect the ones I wouldn't want to live without."

"Heh!" A cowboy-ish figure with six arms went, nodding its head to Andre.

"Only time will tell, my friends," he told them. "For now, we wait and see."

To be continued…

A/N: Well, this is it, my first chapter of an _Evangelion/Puppet Master_ story. I hope this pilot will intrigue some of you until I can get back to it in the future. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to resume much work on any my stories due to my real-world situations that just keep getting worse. But I hope that I'll resolve them in due time. Until then, peace out.


End file.
